Jaroslav František Julius Věšín (; 23 May 1860 – 9 May 1915) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

painter who mainly worked in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and who was noted as a master of

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

. The realistic depiction of battle scenes from the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

(1912) are the subject of a substantial part of his work.

Life

Věšín was born in the town of

Vraný Vraný is a market town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Administrative division Vraný consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): ...

in what is today

Kladno District Kladno District () is a Okres, district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Kladno. Administrative division Kladno District is divided into two Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with extend ...

of the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but moved to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in 1881 and graduated in 1883. Afterwards he worked in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, with his paintings of the period mainly related to Slovak village life. Věšín arrived in Bulgaria in 1897 and remained there for the remainder of his life. Until 1904, he was a professor at the National Academy of Fine Arts in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

and mainly worked in the area of genre painting, with notable paintings such as ''Threshing near Radomir'' (1897), ''Ploughman'' (or ''Land'', 1899), ''Horse market in Sofia'' (1899), ''Smugglers'' (1899), ''In front of a market'' (1899), ''Threshing'' (1900), etc. The main topic of his interest was the life and labour of the Bulgarian villager. After 1904, Věšín became the head painter with the Ministry of War and, although he did not abandon his old interests (with works such as ''Coaler'' (1910), ''Lumberjacks'' (1910), ''On the game's track'' (1910), ''Hunter with hounds'' (1911), etc.), he became famous with his masterpieces of battle painting: ''Manoeuvres'' (series began in 1899 and lasted until the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, ''The Samara flag'' (1911), ''Onslaught'' (or ''Bayonet charge'', 1913), ''The Turkish retreat at

Lüleburgaz Lüleburgaz (; Modern Greek: Λουλέ Μπουργκάς ''Lule Burgas''; Bulgarian: Люлебургаз ''Lyuleburgaz''), Bergoule (Ancient Greek: Βεργούλη) or Arcadiopolis (Ancient Greek: Ἀρκαδιούπολις ''Arkadiópolis'') ...

'' (1913), ''Lüleburgaz-

Çatalca Çatalca () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 1142 km2, making it the largest district in Istanbul Province by area. Its population is 77,468 (2022). It is in Eas ...

'' (1913) and a series of sketches and complete works on the siege of Edirne, among which ''Bibouac in front of Edirne'' (1913), ''Resting after 13 March 1913'' (1913), etc. Many of his works are displayed in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Sofia. Among Věšín's students were Nikola Petrov, Atanas Mihov, and other major Bulgarian painters.

References

* 1860 births 1915 deaths People from Kladno District Bulgarian people of Czech descent Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academy of Fine Arts in Prague alumni 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 20th-century Czech painters 19th-century Bulgarian painters 19th-century Bulgarian male artists 20th-century Bulgarian painters 19th-century Czech male artists 20th-century Czech male artists Painters from Austria-Hungary Emigrants from Austria-Hungary People from the Principality of Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-painter-stub